chronicles of a dearth foretold

Tonight I finished Alastair Reynolds' science fiction novel "Century Rain". I enjoyed this book very much. The problem with an enjoyable read, of course, is that it comes to an end. As one progresses through the book, one notes with some needless inner pride how one is gradually finishing a greater percentage of the work. Then the day comes in which one has completed the novel--and an entire universe evaporates.

The news media is alive with the tale of young Bristol Palin. Everyone, it seems, opines this or that about Ms. Palin, 17 year old daughter of the current Republican nominee for Vice President, and her dual status as expectant and as-yet-unmarried. I personally find that Bristol Palin lacks metaphoric value, in the same way that a sunny day in Texas tells us very little about global warming. I'd much rather see the media spend the zeal they expend on a young woman's personal situation in dissecting statements, actions and positions taken by her mother, the actual candidate for higher office. I find Bristol Palin's personal choices as important to the election as Billy Carter's statements about beer.

Similarly, I am bored of the word "vet", unless it is used to describe a person who doctors animals in the Yorkshire dales or someone who liberated the concentration camps. Our media affects to believe that the issue of how well Mr. McCain's underlings "vetted" Ms. Palin is news. I believe that a great deal of actual news is obscured by these "lazy person's guide to inside baseball political journalism" notions of news.

I've been thinking about the future, and in particular the steps I wish to take in my own personal choices in that future. Will I be a lawyer the entire rest of my career? Do I wish to acquire more skills? Is there good I can do that I do not do now? I ponder about this more than I ponder the scorecard on the news channels.